‘It’s great to be back in action’

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After a five-month medical leave that included a 30-day hospital stay and open-heart surgery on Jan. 29, I'm back: On Monday, I resumed my 38-year career as a SunTimes reporter.

That hospital stay was the result of a Jan. 11 cardiogenic shock - first cousin to a heart attack. Twice, I was placed on life support. Once, my heart had to be shocked by the defibrillator paddles. Then, on Jan. 29, I was implanted with a D-batterysize, $80,000 heart pump by Dr. Valluvan Jeevanandam at the University of Chicago Medical Center…

Now I must adapt to living tethered to a machine until the Mayo Clinic schedules me for a heart transplant.